Gadgets Mobile

There’s no doubt about it. Carpooling with co-workers and friends is an efficient way of saving on fuel prices, while at the same time reducing the emissions level of an additional car on the road. But how about carpooling without the use of a car at all?

The Dogsled is a four-seater pedal vehicle which allows for you and three of your friends to travel together without the need for gas, electricity, or any other power source other than your own two legs (or eight legs in this case). This human-powered quadcycle is totally reliant on pedal power, so you probably won’t be travelling cross-country on this vehicle unless you’re looking for a hardy workout.

Carpooling is good for both the environment and your wallet. Carpooling without a car is even better for both. Using the Dogsled adds an element of exercise which you could only usually accomplish while riding a bike or in a gym.

So let’s put the pedal to the metal and make this planet a greener place to live, not to mention toning our flabby calf muscles in the process. This is truly a great contraption for traveling short distances with your buddies.

Source via Coolbuzz

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If you do not yet have a memory card reader (unthinkable for this day and age), then why not get cute with the USB Koala Card Reader? This model supports only the SD family (SD, SDHC, MMC, miniSD, microSD - the latter two will require an SD adapter), so if you’re rocking to any other memory card formats, you’re out of luck. What looks like an ordinary koala toy that is placed on your computer monitor can be decapitated, revealing a USB connector at the neck area while you push in your SD memory card right into the top of its head. Connect it to a PC and you’re good to go. This cute little piece of tech can be yours for $12.

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We got our hands on the HP 2530P long enough to tell you that it has been designed to be more durable than its predecessors (and most of the competition), thanks to HP’s scratch-resistant finish. The toughness doesn’t end at the surface: the design of the display hinges makes them less prone to pressure (we tried to twist/shear it). It’s not surprising that this model has been certified to the MIL-STD 810F military specifications. The HP Elitebook 2530 is light (3.2lbs) but it can receive up to 8GB of memory (2X4GB) and is powered by Intel’s Centrino 2, which includes an Ultra-Low Voltage (ULV) processor. Now, I wish that there was an option to have a higher-resolution display (1440 wide), and a backlit keyboard, but HP made things a little better by adding an LED light on the screen so that you don’t wake up your neighbor in the plane. HP’s website.

Finally, a reality show I may actually want to watch. According to Electronic House, Playboy will soon have a show that puts a new spin on the bachelor scenario; in which one guy must choose the love of his life from a trio of women. Instead of just choosing the right girl though, the bachelor will be given another difficult choice.

You have got to love the title of a show, it’s called “Gadget or the Girl”. Besides choosing between three women for a weekend getaway with one of them, the bachelor can decide on a complete alternative. Once he has chosen the girl of his dreams he is given the option to ditch her for a surprise high-tech gadget. The gadget is only revealed once the bachelor makes his decision. If the girl is chosen she gets a prize as well as the weekend away.

I must admit that I would be a little torn between starting a relationship with someone I don’t really know and getting a new high-tech gadget. Initially I would probably lean more toward the gadget. That’s because statistically there is a better chance that the gadget will be around longer. Also, if the gadget moves out it typically doesn’t take half of the other gadgets with it. Mark your DVR’s for September 1st and if you don’t have the Playboy channel perhaps this is the excuse you have been looking for.

Read more at Electronic House.

A bunch of German researchers have managed to develop new self-service scales which are smart enough to recognize the type of fruit or vegetable placed on them automatically, thanks to a camera and the smartly written image evaluation algorithm that will draw up a solution from its comprehensive database. I guess this is a pretty effective tool as well if you want the kids to learn a thing or two at the supermarket as they start to recognize the different shapes of various fruits and vegetables while mom is busy weighing them. These scales are currently undergoing a testing phase in approximately 300 supermarkets across Europe. Don’t expect 100% accuracy with this, so don’t be alarmed if your bittergourd might be mistaken for a cucumber.

Don’t mistake McGuider for being the latest promotion from the Golden Arches - this is actually a 2GB microSD card that turns any Windows Mobile or Symbian-powered device into a complete navigation system as long as there is GPS functionality in your device. McGuider will retail for 66€ for both North America and Western Europe, but shipping is only within European borders (yes, it doesn’t quite make that much sense). Each purchase consists of the microSD card, maps from TeleAtlas, a miniSD card adapter and a standard SD adapter. Features include :-

• Continuous zoom
• Itinerary planning
• Advanced sign data
• Automatic country info at border crossings
• Lane guidance

Do you think this is worth busting nearly a hundred bucks on?

From the moment I read the subject line of this PR email, I thought I would hate this crazy convergence device, or at least have some fun at its expense:

Introducing The World’s Only PC Keyboard With Built-In Color Scanner

But it actually looks great. The Keyscan, as you will have guessed, is a USB keyboard with a built in sheet-feed scanner. The paper goes in through a slot at the top and exits at the bottom. We don’t expect this to be up to digitizing your library of medium format photos, but for occasional use, it’s nice to have the scanner tucked out of the way instead of cluttering up the desk.

The demonstration video (below) also shows that a little thought has gone into the software. Once configured, you simply feed in a sheet and the whole process is taken care of, be it sending the document to Outlook or performing Optical Character Recognition on a business card. And we also have a soft spot for the guy demonstrating the Keyscan — his tiny, windowless office and harried manner make us want to buy the machine, just to help him out.

The Keyscan is Windows only (XP and Vista) and costs $160. Probably more expensive than buying the pieces separately, but we guess you are paying for the convenience. Man. If only they’d covered this with crystals or Hello Kitty pictures I could have really opened up with the trash-talk. As it is, this looks like a slightly dull but — to the right person — very handy piece of office kit.

Product page [Keyscan]

From the moment I read the subject line of this PR email, I thought I would hate this crazy convergence device, or at least have some fun at its expense:

Introducing The World’s Only PC Keyboard With Built-In Color Scanner

But it actually looks great. The Keyscan, as you will have guessed, is a USB keyboard with a built in sheet-feed scanner. The paper goes in through a slot at the top and exits at the bottom. We don’t expect this to be up to digitizing your library of medium format photos, but for occasional use, it’s nice to have the scanner tucked out of the way instead of cluttering up the desk.

The demonstration video (below) also shows that a little thought has gone into the software. Once configured, you simply feed in a sheet and the whole process is taken care of, be it sending the document to Outlook or performing Optical Character Recognition on a business card. And we also have a soft spot for the guy demonstrating the Keyscan — his tiny, windowless office and harried manner make us want to buy the machine, just to help him out.

The Keyscan is Windows only (XP and Vista) and costs $160. Probably more expensive than buying the pieces separately, but we guess you are paying for the convenience. Man. If only they’d covered this with crystals or Hello Kitty pictures I could have really opened up with the trash-talk. As it is, this looks like a slightly dull but — to the right person — very handy piece of office kit.

Product page [Keyscan]

Earlier this week we reported on how ISPs in Italy had been told to start blocking access to the bittorrent tracker site The Pirate Bay (TPB). They did as they were told, but TPB fought back, creating a new domain and working hard to make blocking the service very difficult for the ISPs.

One thing the people/organizations involved in pushing for the block probably didn’t expect though, was that the popularity of TPB would actually increase once the block was imposed. That’s exactly what has happened with the site gaining 10 places on web traffic monitoring site Alexa and TPB reporting a 5% traffic increase from Italy.

As if to add to the torment of the people trying to block them; TPB co-founder Peter Sunder commented on his blog that, “the funny part is that TPB has never been particularily big in Italy.“.

Read more TorrentFreak.com

Matthew’s Opinion
You only have to look at the title of Sunder’s blog post to see what he thinks of the whole blocking attempt, it reads, “Fascists 0, internets 1“.

As I said in the original post about the block, if you want to take TPB down you need a bulletproof case against them. All I can see is the site gaining in popularity because of the continued action against them and they also seem to be getting stronger.

I’m sure the movie and music industry will start throwing more and more barriers up, but unlike what happened to other services such as TorrentSpy, I really can’t see TPB disappearing. Even if they do, they are going to put up one hell of a fight before it’s over.

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Aug 17th 2008 at 10:26PM
Well whaddya know? The iTreo 800p is finally selling on eBay! We thought the day would never come that we could actually get our hands on this totally sweet — and absolutely real — phone. Man were we wrong. Sure, the listing says you’re selling off a Treo 800W, but given the large amount of completely reassuring blue text, scrolling text, and large font text, we’ll happily accept that we will, in fact, receive the device pictured above via UPS Next Day Air. So, yes. Yes. We will “buy it now” for $349.99, safe in the knowledge that by this time tomorrow, we’ll be the only guy on our block busting out the iTreo 800p at parties, pool halls, and any place else where all the happenin’ stuff happens. Thanks “naseemajid” — you’re A+++++ in our book.

Update: It appears the eBay auction has been pulled. We can’t imagine why.

[Thanks, Spencer]

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